The Department of State is made up of two parts:
1) political appointees (such as deputy secretaries and undersecretaries of state)
2) permanent employees selected under the dvil service system, including some thirty-five hundred foreign service officers who serve alternatively at home and abroad. The Department of Defense

The civilian head of the defense Department^ also called Pentagon，is the secretary of defense, a cabinet member who has authority over the military establishment. Below him are the civilian secretaries of the army, navy, and air force; below them are the military commanders of the individual branches of the armed forces. These military leaders make up the Joint Chiefs of Staff，who not only coordinate military policy, but also the primary military advisers to the president, the secretary of defense, and the National Security Council.

The CIA and the Intelligence Community
The director of central intelligence (DCI) is appointed by the president (with the confirmation of the Senate) and reports directly to the president. The DCI coordinates the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as well as the intelligence activities of the Department of Defense.

The responsibilities of the CIA include:

1) the analysis, preparation, and distribution of intelligence to the president and the National Security Council;

2) the collection of human intell^ence — reports obtained &om foreign sources by CIA caseworkers around the world;

3) all covert acdon 一 activities carried out outside the U.S., supporting its national interest, which would be ineffective or counterproductive if their sponsorship were to be made public.

The National Security Council

The NSC is made up of a group of advisers created to help the president coordinate a coherent foreign policy by taking into account details of domestic, foreign, and military af&irs that related to national security. Its members include the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense. NSC discussions can cover a wide range of foreign policy or national security issues, such as how to deal with changes in Eastern Europe or what U.S. policy in the Middle East should be.

The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the CounciTs function has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies.

The NSC is chaired by the President. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to thcir responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.

The National Security Council was established by the National Security Act of 1947, amended by the National Security Act Amendments of 1949. Later in 1949, as part of the Reorganization Plan, the Council was placed in the Executive Office of the President.